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This morning we heard cruise reservations for 2021 are up 9% over last year.

I do not believe this virus is only a cruising issue, many things in our lives will change, but we have to continue living. My late husband and I were enjoying our retirement, at age 74 he began feeling very tied and lost some weight in a matter of a few weeks. After his doctor admitted him to the hospital and many tests, we found out he had acute myeloid leukemia and had maybe three months to live. Our lives may change because of the virus, just like more security after 9-11, but we have to continue living. We could die in a car crash or a plane, or die of a heart attack or cancer. We change our life styles, or have more safety features, but we continue to go on living. The virus is not the fault of people who cruise, stopping all cruise ships or travel in the future will not make viruses go away, germs and viruses are there. I agree that when we have a pandemic, or even a crisis like 9-11, we have to take a step backwards, wait until it passes (after acts of nature, pandemics, wars, etc.) and move on, not stop living. Life is to short, as we see, doom and gloom is not hope, we need hope to get us through this awful time. This is JMO, I am sure many people will not agree. I accept your opinions, I just want to believe that though life may be somewhat different, we will still have dreams of life after the virus. We cannot put our lives on hold forever.

All you need to know is from this paragraph (not that anyone reads that far down)

DH just said he's going to start brewing again. Beer for everyone! Well in about 6 weeks. ?

Hi everyone, I know we get heated debating which dessert is the best one to order, or if a balcony room is worth it, but let's keep these basic rules in mind when chatting here. No profanity No personal insults No political discussion This includes tropes about politicians and generalizations about political parties No debating religion Keep your posts relevant and accurate to each specific thread. We can all have our little fun within each thread but please make sure the information you're putting out there is correct and current. Topics not related to Royal Caribbean may be removed. Posts or comments encouraging cruisers to break any Royal Caribbean policy is not allowed and will be removed.

Sometimes the food is the beer... #costamayapool

With up to 200,000 deaths predicted for the US, in reality I’ll be surprised if cruising is back to normal by September. There is no way cruising is going to start up again in May. I can’t see how cruise industry will be back anytime soon. People still can’t even get off ships.. let alone get on them!

Cruise ships don't have to parallel park, do they?? Jokes people, jokes! ?

Well, the fact that it's TMZ for one and a TMZ article without a byline or any actual named sources sets my "not the full picture" sonar getting lots of pings... ? Plus the editorializing at the end (I'm a huge fan of nurses, but c'mon, TMZ...way to bury the "no blame" thing...), well... But yeah, guessing it was a charter company. But, you know -- TMZ readers aren't exactly known for being fans of journalistic accuracy or ethics.

There are quite a few things that I miss! I miss the anticipation that I always get at every stage that I get pre cruise! Usually the countdown, the drive or flight down to FL, checking into the hotel, getting to the terminal and finally getting onboard! I will also miss dinner in CK or the MDR! Waking up prior to the wife and heading up to the gym and coming back to the room and having my "pre-breakfast" out on the balcony while reading and enjoying the Vitamin-Sea! To be perfectly honest I absolutely miss EVERYTHING about cruising prior to the last evening onboard! I am SO looking forward to a vacation after all of this craziness is over!! I understand that the precaution is necessary and believe that they have made the right decision, I am just ready for this all to be over so we can go back to our new "normal" and move on.

Nope. https://www.royalcaribbeanblog.com/2020/04/01/no-royal-caribbean-did-not-extend-its-cruise-cancellations-until-september

Scheduled for Greek Isle cruise out of Venice in Oct for our 30th wedding anniversary. If that doesn't happen, we will be sailing out of Venice in Oct 2021 for our 31st wedding anniversary!

Just thought I'd give MyVegas/MyKonami/PopSlots players a heads-up: I was able to get a points refund on a reward I redeemed for a cruise I cancelled under "Cruise With Confidence". Now, I did book the cruise within the last 30 days, so I dunno if that had an impact, but I contacted PlayStudios support, they asked me for the redemption code for the award and a screenshot confirming the cruise was cancelled (I sent them a screenshot of it being cancelled in the "Cruise With Confidence" form), and they refunded the points to my account. I dunno if any of y'all have rewards redeemed for cruises that have been cancelled by RCCL or that you've cancelled under "Cruise With Confidence", but if you do, I'd check with the support staff to see if they'll refund the points and cancel the award so you can redeem one later. The worst they'll tell you is no...which, of course, is not what we wanna hear, but...

Not having to cook is always top of my list, but I really enjoy the escapism of a cruise. It really does help me feel disconnected from the world at large (primarily the news).

I’m not sure if this is a new offering, but I don’t remember ever seeing this before. @Matt Sushi & Sake Menu .pdf

Don’t forget Symphony, too. She is the newest of the O class ships.

For a class action lawsuit to exist there has to be a loss or harm. NOBODY has had a loss or harm by RCCI. You were made whole in a manner that was better than stipulated in your contract. RCCI is dealing with millions of cancellations that don't just involve cruisers. They are dealing with employee contracts, vendors and other third parties. They are taking hits to their liquidity with cancellations. I am truly amazed at Americans..and people in general, behavior during this pandemic. From people still partying and having no regard for others safety. To people who feel entitled to special treatment. Nobody has any patience. @Cruise Happy I only reply because I am shocked at how much blame is being placed by people who play the "greedy corporation game. With interest rates so low and the cost it takes to keep empty ships, RCCI is not making bank. YOU and only you decided to book a refundable/nonrefundable fare to cruise, knowing that if you cancel you would be penalized. RCCI did the best they could by allowing for no penalty changes and FCC, refunds if they cancelled. You are assuming a lot about me..... I have been on 1 RCCI cruise, I own no stock with them but I have been doing accounts receivable for various law firms and large corporations for over 17 years. I am a realist, corporations do what they do because we allow them to do it. You're complaining about greed but you also want your profit sharing and 401k to do good. There is bad PR but COVID-19 is to blame for that. RCCI did not break any laws because they did not put in writing any promises they have not kept. Again nothing against you venting your frustration but RCCI is not wrong, greedy, amoral, deceptive etc. This is not everyday, this is not normally how things work. Over 1000 people died yesterday. Corporations are not moving swiftly, banks don't work as fast. Most of us have nothing but time.....

A bigger question!!! Which cruise lines will still be solvent by September 1st??. Bet there will be some incredible deals on Mega cruise ships for sale this summer! Unless of course, the cruise lines decide to keep all of our payments and reorganize under bankruptcy protection laws of whichever country they are registered within! Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines could reorganize as "Regal Cruises the Caribbean Lines"! ? Just throwing it out there! Something to think about. Experts are predicting doom and gloom. A cruise could be the furthest thing on our minds come August! I sure Hope Not!

I've only been on one cruise ship, that was Adventure, but I think next time we'll want to try another ship. Heck, I want to try 'em all and see who I like best.

I just checked my cancelled April 16 cruise, today is the first time that it shows our Gty room assignments.

I loved sailing on the Harmony. She is a wonderful ship but have also heard good things about the Oasis. The Broadway style show on the Harmony was Grease whereas on the Oasis it's Cats. Harmony has Sabor Mexican which we enjoy. Oasis has Port side BBQ which Matt raved about.

This link has been updated. Evidently Royal offered them refund or 125% FCC. Seems the organizers are the ones to blame here and not Royal. https://www.tmz.com/2020/04/01/royal-caribbean-cruise-nursecon-no-refunds-credit/

Sorry to hear what you went through but glad you have such a positive outlook and attitude like you do. I really believe that the "cure" is actually worse than the condition, at least here in Canada......its amazing the fear and control the government has over us. No one is living normally or enjoying life, we are all scared and told to stay home for weeks, now into months...with no end it sight and no proof that anything we are being forced to do is having the effect the government told us it would.

This is what I was talking about with other threads. Danny CEO of Harr travel said the last 2 weeks been the biggest booking weeks of his entire career. The gloom and doom is I think not warranted.

Miss my breakfast on OASIS at JOHNNY ROCKETS last month! Dinner at GIOVANNIS and LUNCH at PLAYMAKERS!

Being excited! Seems hard to get excited even about a cruise at the end of the year with all that's going on. So much unknown. And I'm the best planner!!! Lol

I have to say...that nearly sound like a familiar commercial. 1st thing that came to mind was saving 15% by switching to Geico. LoL

Oooooo, low blow. ? ?

Now might be the time to pull that full case trigger!

Spoke with RC today and they said everything is delayed due to the mass amount of cancellations and that we can expect refunds within 30 days of cancellation, so I guess April 13th will be the day most of us get our refunds

Thanks for the liveblog and all the great info. We booked our first Celebrity cruise last week, a four night on Equinox over Memorial Day after our April sailing on Oasis got cancelled. I was astounded how great a deal it can be. With the four perks and a casino discount, the sailing effectively cost less than 100$.

Where to even start? Embarkation day mani pedi before muster to get the trip started off right. Mornings, love getting up early and catching the sunrise over the ocean, enjoying what feels like a nearly empty ship for awhile, then grabbing some starbucks and sitting down to read. Randomly meeting people and making friends, some of the friendliest and my most favorite people I’ve ever met were on cruises. Deluxe beverage package. It does not go to waste and that’s all I’ll say on that one. Looking forward to / planning my next vacation, with having two already canceled and July’s I’m not confident about (to put it mildly), I haven’t been doing my usual obsessive research about places to figure out what I want to do. Until thing settle it’s like I don’t want to get my hopes up on a trip only to have it cancelled.

So Day 2. Let's think back. Ah it started with the alarm going off at 7am. And then again at 730. Why you might ask (and so did Rebecca, but not so nicely)? Well you see - and this became a trend over the course of the week; each night before going to bed and after maybe one to many vodka soda... I had this preconceived notion that I was going to get up and go to the fitness center for the sunrise yoga and core/ab class. Keep in mind, I purposely do not bring sneakers and in my two previous cruises I could not even tell you where the fitness center was. And this trip was no exception. Needless to say, I kept my record perfect of never setting foot in the fitness center. But after my second alarm and Rebecca deciding she really didn't want to kill me, we got up and decided to try breakfast at Park Cafe which is a great change of pace in the morning compared to the windjammer. While I scarfed down my third breakfast panini (dont judge me, they are small) and Rebecca ate her frosted mini wheats (loser) we planned out our sea day. Looking through the cruise compass we saw a few different things we were both interested in. First being rock climbing. Then following that up with a mini-golf competition. Rebecca saw that there was some spa event later in the morning so she made note of that and then I noticed a dodgeball competition that afternoon. Seemed like we had a tentative game plan. So with a coffee in hand we made our way over to the boardwalk to hit up the rock wall. Upon arriving, we found ourselves to be the only ones there. This was done intentionally. I do not like lines or crowds (when I can avoid them). My logic was, who the hell would want to rock climb at 930 on first day at sea. Well that answer was pretty simple. Me. Now I am by stretch of the imagination and rock climber/outdoor adventure junky. I have only done this three times in my life, all of which were on cruises. I really just do it to say I did it (and to get a sweat to make me feel good that I did something athletic before I eat a gazillion calories). But when it comes to athletic challenges, I don't like to lose. So you can bet your butt that I am making it up that wall no matter what, even if I have to Freesolo the crap out of that wall. But here is the difficult thing. I kind of had a headache if you know what I mean. I probably needed to cycle in maybe a few more waters that morning before hauling myself over three stories in the air. But you know what. I'm a big boy (whether Rebecca agrees with that or not). Annnnnd I decided I was just going to do the kiddie wall. OR so I thought. However, for some reason if you are a somewhat 'kinda' in shape 20 something wearing a basketball jersey, the activity staff will stereotype you and they will make you go to the advance wall. Oh boy. Well long story short (I also think I blacked out at some point half way up the wall)...I did it. And quickly high tailed it out of there before they peer pressured me to do it again. After rock climbing we decided to do a more low-key activity and and enter the oasis dunes mini-gold tournament. I mean I am not one to brag, but last year on Oasis I did get first place. Sure, there were only two other people, one of which was Rebecca, but that is neither here nor there. So we show up to the sports deck and got paired with one other gentle man who was quite nice. To be honest, we all sucked. I think Rebecca may even have won. But I think we all mutually agreed that keeping score was pointless. From the mini golf course we decided to make our way to the Solarium. Given it was probably 1030/11 by this point, we were fully expecting slim pickings when it cam to finding a chair, especially since it was a little windy and the front outdoor area was closed. But by the grace of the cruise gods, we were able to snag two loungers. From there we pretty much chilled. Had a drink or two and just people watched (one of my favorite and sometimes infuriating activities). Why infuriating? Well I will tell you. Like I mentioned, the outside deck was closed. "But Ryan, how do you know it was closed?" Well it could have been for a multitude of reasons. Maybe it was the fact there was no one out there. Maybe it was because none of the chairs were set up. Maybe it was because none of the chairs had cushions on them. Maybe it could have been the chairs being stacked and bungee corded together. Or quite simply it could have been because there was a rope blocking off the entrance. But I mean, who am I to speculate, right? Anyway, the amount of people I witness attempting to go out and try setting up a little sitting area was both comical and frustrating. God bless those crew members who had to keep dealing with those people. But the best was those same people thinking they were entitled enough to unstack and transport chairs from the deck back into the Solarium. I mean I kind of respect the power move. I am too much of a rule follower to even think to move a chair out of line let alone drag one across the entire Solarium and block the walk way so you can have you own special seat. So kudos. Now my other favorite people watching pass time are those with the unlimited drink package who shoot out like a bat out of hell on the first/second day of the cruise. I mean, I am not judging (but I kind of am) so I am sorry. It is your vacation. But when you get white girl wasted before 12pm on day 2 off of pina coladas, I get to laugh. So while my 'catty 18 year old mean girl' subsided, Rebecca ditched me for that event down in the spa. Once she came back we decided to give El Loco Fresh a try for lunch. Since it was probably around 2 at this standpoint, we missed the massive lines and crowds that usually tended to form. But as far as food and concept, Royal really hit it out of the park. The best description I can give is if Taco Bell and Chipotle had a baby. From pre-made burritos and quesadilla's to make your own tacos and taco bowls, everything was just awesome. Also the salsa and guacamole bar really puts everything over the top. After lunch, we decided to not wait 30 minutes and head back to the Solarium and do some soaking in the hot tubs until dodgeball. At around 430 we headed to the sport court. After getting placed on the team of misfits (other randos who showed up without a team), we decided in the five minutes before we played to bond and go out there and give it everything we had. And everything we had lasted about 1 minute. So by 435 we were back at the Solarium. We hung out there for another hour or so until we decided to head over to the water slides and give those a go as most people started to head back to their cabins. As previously mentioned, Rebecca decided to head back to the room around 6ish as we had dinner reservations in the MDR at 730. After Rebecca left I headed back over to the flow rider and then made my way back to the room. After getting ready for dinner (and I believe this was formal night judging by the chronological order of photos in my phone) we headed back out to Central Park to grab a glass of wine at Vintages. But we also enjoyed a nice bottle of wine courtesy of Rebecca's parents on the balcony in between Rebecca doing her hair and makeup. Dinner tonight was in the MDR and it ended up being our only night there. Not because of anything bad, we actually had my time dinning set for the four other nights. But like I mentioned at the beginning, once we got a taste of that forbidden fruit (and looked past the whole paying for food when we already paid for food), we ended up cancelling and going to a few other dinning venue's. Anyway, back to dinner. I think the orders were: french onion soup for Rebecca and the wedge salad for me. Rebecca then got the seafood pasta and I had the duck a l'orange. For dessert it could be anyones guess (I am sorry I am letting you guys down - I thought my elephant brain would remember). Looking at the menu for what would have been the night, and knowing me, I maybe got the grand marnier souffle and let's say Rebecca got the cheesecake. Now for me, dinner was just spectacular. Including this occasion, I have had duck a l'orange 2 times. And let me tell you, it ranks in my top 2. However, Rebecca was not too keen on the seafood pasta. Maybe it was because she had homemade gnocchi the night before in Giovanni's, but that is just a guess. I had a bite, but I am not a fair critic as I eat leftovers that are three weeks old and think they are just fine. Anyway, it was fine though. Didn't ruin the dinner by any means. As far as service, even though we were only there one night, was amazing. We absolutely loved our servers and honestly that was the hardest part of when we were making our dinner reservations to go elsewhere because our waiters were such great guys. Usually it takes by the third night for us to really get a feel for our serving staff but these guys were just phenomenal. For example, when Rebecca didn't finish her plate of pasta, they had some sixth sense that told them she was not wild about the dish. Over and over they apologized (which they did not have to do - the food was fine, just not her cup of tea). Offering more times than we could remember to bring her something else. Just really showed that not matter how busy and overwhelmed they can be with all there tables, they do care about every person they are serving. Now after dinner we had reservations for One Sky which was very good. For the rest of the night we just kind of jumped around from all the different venue's: schooner bar, jazz on four, globe and atlas pub, etc. Now for a 'small world' moment. Back on Freedom, we spent most of our time in Bull & Bear (I hope that was the bar on freedom and not adventure - I am too lazy to search via the google). The main musician in there was Adam Coe, of which I am sure many of you reading this may know of him. Whether you like him or not... that is of no concern to me and keep your negative comments to yourself. Why? Because I run the Adam Coe fanclub and this is my blog so kind words only. Anyway, the fanboy that I am made sure anytime he was playing, me and Rebecca were there. So now back to Oasis. Rebecca and I walk in, but at this point in time there is no one playing. Doesn't matter though, we just really like the spot and figure whoever is playing will be good. So after sitting for a while and chatting up storm with our server, Rudy (more to come on him later), I notice up by the music stand, a flag. And not just any flag. But a Canadian flag. Well if you could have seen the grin that appeared on my face. And a mere five minutes later who comes walking back up on stage but no other than that Tom Petty playing, Dave Matthews singing, Bob Dylan storytelling handsome devil of man. It is not an exaggeration that if I could make a decision of which cruise I go on based on where Adam plays, it would definitely play a factor. So once Rebecca threw a bucket of cold water on me we decided to check out the silent disco down in Blaze. However, before we did that, we needed to down an adult redbull vodka to keep us going. So we stopped at the cafe promenade and got an espresso each and then walked up to the schooner bar to have Trisha and Luis (some of favorite bartenders on the cruise) make us an espresso martini. (disclaimer: if you do this, do not tell them you found out about this idea from Ryan and Rebecca - jk). Yeah, I hate to say we were those people, but to be fair we only did it once a night (when they were slow towards the end of their shift) & they were the ones who told us to do it! OK I feel better getting that off my chest. Anyway, after a drink and a picture or two we headed down to Blaze. Now after doing the silent disco on Freedom last year and being two of five people actually dancing, it was refreshing to see a packed dance floor when we walked in. As could be expected, we had a blast. I mean what could not be more fun or funnier than seeing a bunch of people shaking their tail feathers in a dead silent night club. After Blaze I did my 45 minutes of roulette until I realized that 22 black did not want to come out and play. I think we maybe had one more drink and decided to finally make our way back to the room so we could be bright eyed and bushy tailed for our 830am jet ski tour (it sounded like a great idea fourth months ago)... ...and for me to make it to sunrise yoga before hand.

We have been to most Caribbean islands multiply times so cruising around at a slow pace and maybe stopping at Coco Cay and Labadee would be ok to begin with. I think the hard core cruisers would be satisfied to just cruise around at a snails pace and enjoy the ship.

People have short memories. So many people are being impacted by the virus right now that it's hard to imagine anyone who won't be impacted in some way either directly or through a family member. The cruise industry already is being forgotten even with the latest ship news hitting the street. There is so much news to digest with each passing day The cruise industry just went through a series of record years with incredible profits. Cruising after this passes may not be the same. Load factors may be down but so will be investor expectations. Investors and Wall Street won't expect the same dividends or results. Slowly cruising will start to resemble what it has been these past few years.

I am trying not to think of this year (but I must admit I have already booked and paid for shore excursions for my Baltic cruise next year) I am the eternal optimist and I refuse to accept things will not get better by then

All of the non cruisers may talk down on cruising now but know there will be some jealous eyes when I post some amazing pictures from our December and January cruises. For now I’m just taking advantage of the discounted rates!

+1 to Harmony! Though full disclosure, haven't been on Oasis or Allure to compare it to :)

This is the cruise ship equivalent of doing donuts in the snow covered parking lot at school. Can you envision the smile on the face of the Master as he skids through the open sea... List to the left,.. left,... left,...

@TXcruzer Thank you for the new info. AND Thank You RCL for doing the right thing!!! ?

On a positive note:

Completely agree. We never get internet for this reason. And it's a vacation for me...no cooking or cleaning. I'll second what others have said. Love the feeling when you take that first walk on the ship, relaxing with the family and at the same time, participating in activities such as scavenger hunts, sky pad, waterslides, abyss, etc, MDR each night followed by a show, the game shows and fun evening stuff, the drinks (Lava Flow, Mojito and Blue Hawaiian!), exploring the ship, walking laps on deck 5 (depending on the ship) where you can see the water...so peaceful. And like others, I'm a planner so love the anticipation of the next cruise, daily price checks for cruise an cruise planner, researching ports (although it's more about the ship than the ports for us). Of course, this time it's hard as you don't know if those cruises will go ahead so its bittersweet. I honestly said to DH yesterday that if we can't cruise for our family vacations, and Disney is also out of the picture, I can't think of any alternative that even comes close.

Us as well. We’re in 10330. I keep hoping one on deck 8 or 9 opens up for to move to a better one.

I stayed in an OTW cabana on Nellie's Beach, and loved it! Yes, the beach there gets crowded but you are actually kind of far-removed from it. Between that and the fact the cabanas have a stairway going directly into the water, you have zero need to interact with the people crowding the beach. And the water in the area around those cabanas is basically devoid of people even when the beach is packed. I've attached some of the pics I took to give you an idea of what the distance is like, along with the water. If you got the Nellie's cabana for a really good price, I would say to just hold on to that unless you value the food you'll also get at Barefoot Beach just as highly.

Swapped our cancelled cruise in May for same itinerary sailing August 17th on Independence!

Soft drinks on a cruise? I hadn't noticed! ???????

... I also miss that first tropical drink after lunch to kick off the cruise!

Meeting New People ?